MEDIA RELEASE - Candor Trust

ACC claims rage - Community road safety program whimpers

After another horror weekend on the roads Candor Trust says Government must reorient to conditions faster, ensuring the Community Road Safety Budget it announced today isn't frittered yet again on inefficient priorities.

"Government is wilfully funding a non producing road safety culture. NZ's toll if measured by crashes involving death or serious injury has increased by nearly 40% since 2000, which goes to show no accountability put on spending".

An Official Information Act request to ACC just provided to Candor has revealed that since that disastrous turning point year, when prior good progress turned to custard, and new claim numbers were at 33, 676 claims have sky rocketed.

Right up to 43, 161 new claims in 2006 - a level of claim numbers not seen since the late 1990's. Account costs rose from 53.9 million dollars to 75.7 million dollars.

"Drink driving crashes causing serious injury are at an all time low of 500 crashes yearly (down from 2500 in 1993), but the predicted benefits from the one trick pony policy of heavy speed enforcement haven't manifested - quite the reverse.

Fatigue, driver skills deficits and prevalent psycho-active drug use are the glaring most major but determinedly ignored issues. "Government continues ignoring at their peril - hard facts about record blood shed can not be glossed for ever".

While reports from the Ministry of Transport and LTNZ predicted a 5% decrease in accidents involving youth would result from introduction of the graduated license system what has eventuated since 1999 is a 30% increase in injurious crashes.

One than can not be attributed to drink driving given that only around 10% deceased young drivers are consistently over their rather low limits.

Youth are overwhealmingly being the most responsible drivers of all with alcohol.

Funding for the community road safety program totals $17 million for 07/08 and the plan is to continue with business as usual - unsuccessfully pushing messages about the "enforceable" risks of speed, alcohol seatbelts and intersections.

As per LTNZs killer policy of only placing any emphasis on the "enforceable risks" as confirmed to Akilla drowsy driving campaign in correspondence from Dr Jan Wright some time ago.

None of the taxpayer budget is earmarked for drug driving - which along with alcohol, fatigue and poor driver training is one of the four top underlying causes of serious road crashes. Speed is generally a result of the true crash causes.

All the main causes are ignored or grossly understressed in publicity campaigns. Drug driving is per several indicators and one local study quite likely to be an even greater contributor to the toll yet it gets zero state generated publicity.

Further worsening the situation is the (LTNZ) Road Safety Trust's efforts to thwarts any community group which attempts to raise awareness. Several applications for funds to raise awareness by concerned community groups have been declined.

LTNZ's budget for National television advertising for the next financial year is soon to be announced, but it appears that the masterplan remains the same. To keep on pushing "enforceable" risks, at dear cost to all NZers lives and limbs along with the extra burden thids impoises on the ACC road accident account.

The United Kingdom, European Countries, Malaysia, the U.S.A, Canada and practically every where other than Antarctica and NZ have major drug driving prevention campaigns. Often largely plotted out by the Public Health division.

It appears that in the country with the second highest illicit drug use rates in the world doesn't need it. The only one with a fast increasing road toll (killed and seriously injured tally) thinks apt education suited to the era we live in is passe.

Charts unashamedly displayed in the LTNZ pathfinder symposium report reveal the creeping menace of the "Greatest Enforceable Risk" policy which gives Police dominance in the road safety arena .

Bar graphs in the report horribly trumpet how the share of road safety advertising given to non enforceable or standardly non enforced risks eg fatigue or drug driving (versus "enforceables") has reversed.

Targeted advertising has moved from a 70/30 mix in the 1990's to a 30/70 mix today. "It's time to get real and target the major crash types".

Drowsy driving is bigger than speed in fatal crash causation, drugs have a role in over 1500 bad crashes (estimate) which far exceed alcohols contribution this year.

Johan Degier of the DRUID project said drugs would motor past alcohol as a crash cause internationaly this year but it appears NZ got there ahead of others, due to our excellent random breath testing program.

What is the number one killer on our roads - it's the "greatest enforceable risk policy" because people need to know about their greatest actual risks, say Candor.
Not just the ones which by chance NZ Road Police most often apply sanctions to.

NZ should not be hearing about drink driving alone considering 3x as many fatal and serious injury crashes suffered by young drivers - are featuring highly risky drugs today (Waikato University thesis)?

"This G.E.R. policy creates a great disconnect between actual road safety needs and the most appropriate and efficient publicity strategies ever being selected".

The most dangerous driver and endangered driver is a young person under twenty with friends aboard and stays under the youth alcohol limit due to good education but might still have a small tipple before loading up on cannabis (seen as safe).

He is probably not travelling above permitted speeds but as his driver training has not taught good handling skills due to LTNZ's fear of overconfident young drivers.

He takes a curve slightly too fast for conditions as he fails to understand vehicle dynamics - perhaps misjudges his available space due to depth perception problems from the pot so then he next careers onto the dirt verge, and voila.

Ends

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